B-1 bomber on I-5 catches some motorists by surprise
OLYMPIA, Wash. - A B-1 bomber fuselage owned by Boeing was trucked up Interstate 5 from Portland, Ore., to Olympia overnight amid a convoy with flashing lights, catching some motorists by surprise.
The unusual oversized load left Portland International Airport at about 11:30 p.m. Friday and arrived at the Nisqually Weigh Station, just north of Olympia, at about 6 a.m.
The bomber's ultimate destination is Boeing Field, south of Seattle. It will continue north on its way there early Sunday, leaving Olympia at about 2:30 a.m. and arriving at Boeing Field around 6:30 a.m., leaving I-5 via the Martin Luther King Jr. Way off-ramp.
The 135-foot Air Force jet's voyage originated in Tucson, Ariz., and it has traveled up I-5 through California over the past few days before arriving in Oregon.
The fuselage has attracted plenty of attention during its trip. The convoy travels only at night and moves at about 45 mph.
The unusual oversized load left Portland International Airport at about 11:30 p.m. Friday and arrived at the Nisqually Weigh Station, just north of Olympia, at about 6 a.m.
The bomber's ultimate destination is Boeing Field, south of Seattle. It will continue north on its way there early Sunday, leaving Olympia at about 2:30 a.m. and arriving at Boeing Field around 6:30 a.m., leaving I-5 via the Martin Luther King Jr. Way off-ramp.
The 135-foot Air Force jet's voyage originated in Tucson, Ariz., and it has traveled up I-5 through California over the past few days before arriving in Oregon.
The fuselage has attracted plenty of attention during its trip. The convoy travels only at night and moves at about 45 mph.
Well, I can tell you their timing was all off.. I was driving north on I-5 at about 1am when I pulled up to this mess on the freeway at Fife. 45 to 50 was the speed of it, I took the Fife exit and then zoomed up Pac Highway (yes, I was speeding, but all the police were on the freeway.) Got to the new freeway entrance on highway 18 and got on the north to Seattle ramp when they went by me, and was able to see what it was. So no, none to the times were correct as told by KOMO, but then again, they were probably told those times..
Hey KOMO , answer one simple question, your journalists right? Is it the fuselage or as you say (bomber), that's a big difference? and why is it ending up at boeing field? I guess i'll have to find out on my own because that's to much to ask from your team of experts.
Two things:Â
1) why didn't "Lazy B" haul the thing in their "Guppy"?
2) If not the Guppy, why not by rail?
And as for MY OWN lookieloo status? Ehh, another NPD (nuclear payload delivery) system? Been there, but few actually want to ever do that.
My wife was pretty excited when she saw it last night, both because of what it is and the imposing load. Do yourselves a favor and don't try to lookieloo from I-5 itself if you come up on it from behind in transit. Though technically decommissioned, it is still an Above Top Secret piece of gear in other ways. If the feds don't release the hounds on you, the cops surely will.
Glad I missed this thing on I5 last night; arrived in Puyallup at midnight from California. As tired as I was from driving it would have ticked me off to had been behind that slow moving thing.
"The convoy travels only at night and moves at about 45 mph." Hmm let's see - it leaves Nisqually weigh station, which is near exit 118, at 2:30am and is scheduled to arrive 4 hours later, exiting at the MLK Way off ramp, which is exit 157 around 6:30am. That is 39 miles on the freeway. If the bomber moves at 45 MPH as they say it does, how come it takes 4 hours to move something like 40 miles - that would put it traveling at around 10 MPH! Seems like the trip should only take about 1 hour, and not 4 hours. How do they account for the 3 additional hours, presumably on the road? Is there something about moving it that thew reader is not being made aware of?
 @JAP506 That's when the aliens and Chinese spies were chekkin it out.
 @JAP506 Because they DO have to pull off every now and then to let traffic pass.
With a load that streamlined why didn't they crank it up to 80 or more? Â ;-)
 @My_Thoughts Why didn't they just leave the thing together and fly the truck too?
I can only imagine being the semi-truck driver. Talk about a story for the family!
 @Kermee Military protocols don't allow it if there's anything but skin, basically. Though decommisioned, that thing could have anything inside it. When they mothball these, they define method for rapid reassembly, elements of which are critical if anyone knows what's there or not.
I don't live far from the I-5/512 area in Tacoma. Maybe I'll head down the one of the overpasses early Sunday morning and check out this thing while its in travel!
Nice photo KOMO. Looks like any other given day or night on I-5. Would have been better to wait maybe during daylight hours and get a photo?
 @northwestsurfer Duh,   did   you   look   at   the   photo   gallery?
@My_Thoughts Hey homie, I commented 4 hours ago, the story had just gone up when I commented. There was no photo gallery when i commented. So if it makes you feel more riteous to be come condescending jerk about it, then thats your issue. Chief.
 @northwestsurfer  @My_Thoughts Opps.  :-(
THis is very cool! I would have loved to have seen this transported on I-5. Just not up and travelling during the midnight - 6 am time frame. :)